burma | Without an H

Posts tagged ‘burma’

Mingalar market

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On my last but one day in Yangon, back in November, I found my way to Mingalar market, a huge multi-storey wholesale and retail market a little way north-east of the city centre. (A couple of days earlier while I was out taking pictures, I’d got chatting to a kind man who suggested it as a good location for people photography. This kind of simple helpfulness is typical of Myanmar.) Less obviously attractive, but far more interesting than the central Bogyoke market, Mingalar mainly stocked clothes and fabric, as well as pharmaceuticals and toiletries (as above). It’s a challenging place for a photographer. It’s cramped and crowded, and the people, though friendly, are understandably more interested in the business of buying and selling stuff than in accommodating clumsy photographers. And the light changes as you move around; at the edges, there’s warm natural sunlight from the open windows, while in the centre, there’s near darkness in some places, and harsh bare bulbs in others. But I always enjoy visiting and photographing markets in south-east Asia, and the morning I spent at Mingalar Zay was one of the most memorable of my four-week trip.

Since these pictures were taken, however, the market was gutted by a fire that broke out one night in January of this year. No-one was killed, fortunately, but there was a huge amount of damage. Many, if not all, of the stall-holders have had to be relocated. I wish them well. I understand that this isn’t the first time that the market has been hit by fire, so I’m sure that it will be up and running again soon.

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Streets of Yangon

I made two trips to Myanmar in 2015. I had a great time everywhere I went, but it was Yangon that caught my imagination most of all. I spent days just walking around, camera in hand, trying to capture the flavour of the place and the character of the people.

Streets of Yangon VII

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My last post featured lots of close-up portraits and detail shots. These wider-angle pictures have more context and, I hope, give some flavour of everyday life on the streets of Yangon.

A young worker in a coal warehouse has a rest after a long day…

… while his colleagues wash themselves in the street outside

Women sew monks’ robes near Shwedagon Paya

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A young man makes fresh sugar cane juice

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Streets of Yangon VI

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A few more portraits and details from Yangon.

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Circle line

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As an ex-Londoner, when I think of the circle line, I think of city centre tube stations: Embankment, Victoria, Paddington, Baker Street. Yangon’s circle line is a little different. From Yangon Central station, I took the train through the suburbs and countryside to Mingaladon, where the local market spills over into the station, and then completed the loop back to the city.

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Three payas

Shwedagon Paya

With these pictures, I wanted to show how Yangon’s many Buddhist pagodas, or payas, are part of the fabric of life in the city.

Shwedagon Paya

Shwedagon Paya

Chaukhtatgyi Paya

Sule Paya

Streets of Yangon V

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I only took two lenses with me on my four week trip to Myanmar in the autumn: a 35mm and an 85mm. I wanted to keep things simple and light by only using prime lenses. I ended up using the 35mm about 90% of the time, typically switching to the 85mm late in the day. It’s a great combination for someone mainly interested in portrait photography. The 35mm is ideal for environmental portraits, showing a person in context (as above), while the 85mm lends itself to close-up head shots (as below). Both are relatively small and light, and encourage the photographer to get close, but not too close, to their subject. With both lenses, my physical distance from the person I’m photographing is about the same: close enough to establish some kind of connection, however fleeting, but not so close as to invade their personal space.

I’m finding my standard zoom lens increasingly cumbersome, and rarely use it these days, so much so that I’m thinking of trading it in for a wide-angle prime. While I never really wish for anything longer than 85mm, there were occasions on this trip when I would have liked something wider than 35mm, particularly for landscapes and architecture. Does anyone else out there have any experience of going zoom-free? I’d be interesting in hearing your thoughts.

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Election fever

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My autumn trip to Myanmar coincided with the country’s general election, which resulted in Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy entering parliament with a majority for the first time, following decades of military rule. Everyone I spoke to about the election seemed to be cautiously optimistic – hopeful that the election would lead to real change, but wary about the ruling party’s willingness to make way. Aung San Suu Kyi herself appeared to be a genuinely unifying presence, calm, intelligent and dignified (a kind of anti-Trump), her image on posters, billboards and front pages throughout the country.

This collection of pictures is by no means a comprehensive account of the events of last November, just a few election-themed images that caught my eye.

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Streets of Yangon IV

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Right now, if I could choose one city in the world to wander around in with a camera, it would be Yangon. My visit in November last year was my second time in the city, so it was familiar enough for me to feel comfortable and orientated, but not so familiar that I felt like I’d seen it all before. I spent a lot of time just zigzagging my way through the tightly-packed grid of streets in downtown Yangon, no particular destination in mind, just looking for a character, a scene or a detail to photograph.

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Baby brother pagoda

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As I mentioned before, there’s no shortage of pagodas and monasteries in Yangon. This neighbourhood pagoda was the other side of my hotel from the monastery featured in my previous post. In the first and last pictures in this set, you can just about make out Shwedagon Paya on the city skyline, looking down on its baby brother.

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